Community

Service is an important way that we fulfill our mission to connect, grow and serve. The headings to the right provide information about how we serve people in need at Cross View, in our community and around the world. Join us!

Alaska Blog

God is so much bigger than just us. And this mission team is so much bigger than just the 19 individuals going to Alaska. Any mission endeavor includes "Goers", "Senders", "Hosts", and "Receivers".

Needless to say, there are so many people that God includes in His ministry to the world, and we are not only excited to be available to Him, but we're excited that you are a part of this, too.

We'd like to invite you to Go On Mission With Us!

You can go on mission with us. . . As we post updates of where we are on the journey God has set out before us. . . As we post pictures of our day and what God enabled us to do or learn. . . And as we post prayer requests.

07-27-2017 – Helping, Hosts and Heaven

July 27, 2017

By Vicki Barton

We all slept well last night and enjoyed a leisurely morning of waking and breakfast. We then spent a full morning working on various projects around our host church, Mt. Drum Lutheran. We scraped and painted the wheelchair ramp and railing, weeded and picked up garbage around the grounds, and cleaned inside the church. We were thankful for these projects that provided an opportunity for us to give back to those who have been so gracious and welcoming to us this week.

After lunch, we hosted another day of basketball camp at Kenny Lake School. We arrived at the same time as the kids did today and immediately noticed a few new faces! We were excited to see all of the participants from earlier in the week return today as well, bringing today’s total attendance to 25! John led the kids through some basketball drills, but most of our time was spent playing games. The kids had so much fun!

Our Bible topic for today was Jesus’ death and resurrection, with our key verse being John 3:16. We talked about God loving each of us so much that He sent Jesus to die for us so that if we believe in Him, we will live with Him in heaven. We had great participation, with several kids asking to read the key verse, and many of them excited about bringing Bibles home tomorrow! The kids are so respectful – listening when others are talking and praying, answering questions when asked, etc. It has made our role as camp hosts so enjoyable.

After camp, we went to Pastor Roeske’s house to help move some heavy items that required multiple people to lift. Again, we were grateful for the opportunity to help his family, even in a small way. While at the Roeske’s home, we were treated to bags full of fresh lettuce, turnips, radishes, spinach and onions from their garden. (They made for a delicious salad at dinner!)

Our evening ended with Terry, a gentleman from the congregation, taking most of us fishing at Round Lake and Old Road Lake, two beautiful lakes just over 45 minutes northwest of Copper Center. Terry was so kind, even bringing extra fishing poles and helping our kids to fish. A couple of our kids caught (and released) some small rainbow trout, a few of us picked wild blueberries, most of us soaked our feet walking through the muddy marsh-like shore, and all of us enjoyed the adventurous evening. We thank God for Terry’s kindness, time and generosity as he hosted us on this fun fishing expedition.

Prayers:

Lord, we thank you for the relationships we have built this week. We pray for a great last day of basketball camp tomorrow – for attendance, for participation, for safety, for fun, for the Bibles and basketballs that will be sent home with the kids. We pray for the community meal that we are hosting tomorrow evening – that You will provide an abundance of people, food, conversation, and relationships. We pray for our hearts and the hearts of all we have met this week – that our last day of serving be a blessing to all and that our farewells be more sweet than sorrowful.